The Office
by Nicole10
Summary: Some time spent in Manchester on the latest campaign trail
1. Memories

Title: The Office  
Category: Romance/Humor/Drama  
Rating: PG-13  
Summary: Some time spent back in Manchester on the campaign trail

Disclaimer: Only in my own twisted world would I actually own these characters, but unfortunately I don't : )  
Author's Notes: Feedback helps me write better and also feeds my addiction

Writing Implemented: 6-3-05

**Chapter 1**

"Ow, awwh, c'mon!" his voice rose as he shook his hand violently, trying to dull the pain that the edge of a piece of paper had just inflicted. "This sort of thing never used to happen when Donna was around," he muttered. But he knew that wasn't true, these things did happen, they just didn't hurt as much.

He threw down his pen. This was getting ridiculous; he'd never missed anyone so much in his entire life. It's not like she was far away either, she was in the same damn town! What was wrong with him? He rubbed his hand down his face as he stood up resolutely.

This place wasn't helping, he thought as he looked around. It had been Josh's idea to rent out the old Bartlet New Hampshire headquarters for the Santos campaign, but it just held too many memories and he was being distracted from his job.

Just as he was about to sit back down in his make-shift office he saw a blonde walk in. He blinked twice, rubbed his eyes, made sure it was her and sat down to pretend he was doing work. A few minutes later a voice broke through his thoughts.

"So, you're in the same place?" Donna asked, leaning against the door to his office.

"Yeah, I figured why mess with tradition? This office served me well the first time" he grinned at her. "Sit down." She came later in the night, hoping not to be seen by too many people. It would be strange for a Russell staffer to be seen in the Santos Headquarters and she didn't want to draw attention to herself. She had judged right. Josh was basically alone except for a few other over-zealous staffers. "How've you been?" he asked.

"Oh, you know, as well as one can be while on the campaign trail." She looked at him closely. "Have you been taking care of yourself?"

"Donna…"

"Josh…" she countered.

"Look, it's not really any of your business," he snapped, surprising even himself. Her face fell.

"Oh, ok, sorry," she said resignedly then paused and looked at him. "I guess I better get going." Donna pointed towards the door.

"No." He flicked his eyes around the office real quick. "Don't do that. I didn't mean to…you know." Then Josh looked down and shuffled a few papers around as he asked: "Have dinner with me?"

"Sure." He looked up at her and grinned at the reassuring smile he found on her face.

"Where do you want to go?"

"How about Fratello's? That place is always good."

"Well, yeah, since we've eaten there a hundred times. It was the first place I took you to after you joined the campaign. You were babbling on and on about…"

"I do not babble!" He smirked at her.

"Anyway you were _babbling_ about how you were Italian and Irish and that you didn't understand how the two fit together since they're such opposites but that you always enjoyed Italian food more and how you hadn't had good Italian food since you got here, which I must question how there can be good Italian food in Wisconsin …"

"So you told me that Fratello's was a pretty damn good Italian restaurant and then I found out how expensive it was…"

"And you kept going on and on about how you couldn't afford to eat there…"

"So you took me out."

"To shut you up."

"Yeah, sure but I knew were just trying to get me into bed." His heart almost stopped.

"And yet you went along with it, what does that show?" He raised an eyebrow.

"What? Who was I to turn down a free meal? I was basically living out of my car."

"Hey, I gave you a place to sleep." Her eyes softened at the memory.

"I remember. You slept on a cot until you could get me on salary and in a room."

"But what I remember are the rules you implemented for those nights, like I was going to jump you or something."

"Well, it's not like I always sleep in the same room with someone I just met. You were a strange guy, I had to protect myself! Who knows what would have happened if you were left to your own devices."

"Yeah…" he said not knowing where to go next in the conversation. "Anyway, dinner?"

"Yep." Josh put on his jacket.

"Right this way Ms. Moss," he said as he put his hand on the small of her back and guided her out the door into the Manchester streets.

Author's Note: Do you like the way it's shaping up so far? Any suggestions?


	2. Back At the Office

Title: The Office  
Category: Romance/Humor/Drama  
Rating: PG-13  
Summary: Some time spent back in Manchester on the campaign trail

Disclaimer: Only in my own twisted world would I actually own these characters, but unfortunately I don't : )  
Author's Notes: Feedback helps me write better and also feeds my addiction

**Chapter 2**

Dinner passed pleasantly for both of them. Laughter, stories, good food, and each other's company put both of them in an amazing mood. They did not allow their differences to get in the way of their night. While they were walking along the streets of Manchester after midnight Donna was still raving about the food.

"Even the garlic bread is amazing! Honestly, that place can't get any better." Josh chuckled at her enthusiasm, something he had missed on the Santos campaign trail.

"Yeah I know, you've told me four times. Umm, I forgot a file at the office, do you mind if we stop in there? Or do you want to go home?" he asked, hoping that she wanted to stay with him, if only for a little while longer.

"Sure, I'll go to the office with you, maybe I'll even do a little reconnaissance for the Russell camp," she smirked.

"Yeah, sure, Donatella…actually you probably know better than me what's in my office now…maybe you should stay outside…"

"Hmm….good point, I think I'll go in."

"Fine, but I'll be keeping my eyes on you."

"You mean you don't normally?"

"Well, you know, I do have the task of getting the next man elected President so while I would love to have my eyes on you all the time, duty calls." She didn't know what to say, but she was saved because they had reached the headquarters. Josh, pulled out a key, opened the door, and let Donna go in first. He turned on a few lights.

"Josh, why isn't anyone here?"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you, on Sundays the Congressman has a rule, no one stays after midnight unless he authorizes it, and apparently no one got the okay this week."

"So what you really mean to tell me is that everyone goes home on a Sunday night, you pretend to go home with them but what you really do is wait an hour and then come back," she said knowingly. "Using your trusty little key."

"Close…very close. You know me too well, Donna." They were walking towards his office. "I'm not too sure that you aren't stalking me…I mean you did seek me out today…"

"Yes, Josh, I'm stalking you and had to do tons of research to find you at, gasp, the Santos' New Hampshire headquarters. You got me," she smirked at him. "Seriously, your ego is getting too big to handle." She was now sitting in the visitors chair and he was at his desk looking through piles of papers for the file he needed.

"So you've told me before." A pile fell to the floor. "Damnit!" She reached to go help him. "Trying to find out some secrets Donna?" he smirked as he batted her hands away. "I can do it, you're not my assistant anymore, and you don't have to deal with this. And plus…secrets that you can't find out!" She bent down to help him anyway.

"Yeah, yeah, secrets…sure. You really have to learn not to pile paper that high, it's not conducive to gravity." Josh leaned over to grab a few files that fell near her. "Plus, you wouldn't leave secrets on your desk, I know you Josh, you're not that irresponsible."

"It's taken you many years to admit that." He grinned at her. "I think I'm going to have to stay awhile to sort all these messed up files back to their previous state. You don't have to stay."

"Yeah, but I want to."

TBC…

Author's Note: Are you enjoying it? Any suggestions?


	3. What Happened To Us?

**Chapter 3**

An hour later Josh was sitting next to Donna on the floor, the chairs abandoned for the time being. They were trying to organize the files…well, Josh was trying to organize the files with a little help from Donna whenever he was at a complete loss of what went where.

"Thanks for staying with me Donna."

"No problem." Josh took a deep breath.

"It's lonely around here."

"Well, yeah, no one's here besides us."

"No, I mean, it's lonely around here without CJ, Toby, Sam, and you. It's not the same." His eyes focused anywhere except on Donna.

"I know what you mean." Josh looked over at her.

"What happened?"

"With what?"

"With everything…everyone. What happened to us? We used to be a group…Bartlet's gang. Now we hardly talk," Josh said. Donna sighed.

"I don't really know, Josh. We've all been busy…"

"Yeah, that's a crappy excuse. We all worked in the White House and we still found time to go out and have a drink, now we don't even pick up the phone for a five minute conversation. I know Toby's angry with me, Sam's doing his thing in California, CJ's got a lot on her plate, and you…well…I don't know."

"Yeah."

"Yeah? What do you mean by yeah?"

"Well, it's not like you called me either! I was nervous, Josh, I was starting a new job and I didn't have my best friend to talk to. You wouldn't even listen to me when I was leaving…I didn't think you would listen to me then. I was afraid."

"Donna, there's nothing to be afraid of. I'm Josh, you're Donna. That's the way it's always been, you should never be scared to talk to me."

"But that's exactly it!" she pointed out and then immediately stopped speaking.

"What?"

"Nothing. I mean, why didn't you ever call me? You never even asked me why I left, you just let me go. I thought our friendship meant more to you than that."

"It does…I just thought…I mean…well…jeez….Donna, it's just that…this is hard!" She laughed a little. "And being back here, back in New Hampshire and back in the office where I met you, it's been really difficult for me. I can't get you out of my mind. I've tried," he said while getting up to pace. "I really have but you're always just…there! And I can't stand it. No, actually I love it, but I can't think straight and it bothers the heck out of me. I can't go through every day wondering if you ate or slept enough, wondering how you're being treated by stupid-ass Bob Russell and his campaign of idiots, or if you're thinking about me. Oh, and that's what gets me going. I can't even figure out if you miss me or if you know how much I..." He paused, looked down with his hands on his hips, blew some air out of his mouth and quickly replayed his words in his head. "I…you know what…I'm going to be right back."

Josh quickly walked out of the office, heading straight for the coffee machine. He couldn't believe what he had just said. He couldn't believe that she had not said anything back. He couldn't believe what an ass he'd been! How was he supposed to go back and face her?

And there was no coffee in the pot, just great! A perfect addition to the stupidity that he had just inflicted on himself. Josh took a deep breath and turned back to his office, determined to meet his fate. What could Donna be thinking?

Author's Note: This isn't going exactly as planned. I'm not sure if I like the way it's shaping up, let me know what you think.


	4. Hi, I\'m Donnatella Moss

**Chapter 4**

When Josh walked back into his office Donna was putting the files back onto his desk in smaller, separate piles. He gathered his courage and spoke.

"What are you doing?" She turned around.

"Hi, I'm Donnatella Moss." Donna held out her hand and he shook it.

"I know…" Josh looked at her, confusion evident in his face.

"I've never graduated from college, I've had several ex-boyfriend who weren't good enough for me, and I'm about to do something we both should have done a long time ago." Donna pulled Josh towards her using the hand she was shaking and placed her lips gently, yet firmly on his. When she heard a satisfied moan her face broke into a smile and she pulled away. Donna's eyes opened and she found Josh's still shut while his mouth was slightly open. After a second he began to whine.

"Donnnnnna." His eyes were still closed. "That wasn't enough, come back here," Josh said, pointing to his lips. She let out a chuckle.

"So I take it that you liked that." He shook his head adamantly.

"Yes," he growled.

"I think I might be good at this. I think you might find me valuable," Donna murmured.

"Hell yes! Now, come back here!" With that he reached out for her, felt her waist and pulled her to him, meeting his lips with hers. She moaned and he punched a fist in the air signaling his victory. Donna quickly grabbed his arm down. "I am so da man!" he said when they separated. She raised her eyebrow.

"How are you da man? I'm the one that kissed you. If anything I'm da man, me, not you."

"Well, if you like things like that Donna…"

"I guess you'll find out." His mouth dropped open as she smirked.

"When can we go home?"

"Not so fast, buddy, I didn't say you'd find out tonight." Josh pretended to sulk. "Yeah, that didn't work before and it's not going to work now."

"Nice use of that line before."

"I didn't know if you'd remember." Donna blushed and lowered her head. Josh ducked his head to get a better glimpse of her red face.

"Are you serious? You just kissed me and now you're blushing because I mentioned what you said?" He began laughing. She hit him lightly.

"Don't make fun of me…" She buried her head in his shoulder.

"I wouldn't dare. Plus, I think it was a nice touch. I especially liked the part where our first kiss was at the same place where we met."

"Yeah," she smiled at him. "I wouldn't have changed it for the world."

THE END

Author's Note: I have a sequel planned to this (which is actually the reason I wrote this story, so hopefully the next one will come out more structured and better). Please tell me if you enjoyed this or not and if I should keep writing.


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